Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Here comes another one!

A few of you may recall that I submitted a kid's cardigan design to Creative Knitting waaaay back in September for the September '06 issue. I heard back from them a couple months later that they couldn't use it for that issue, but they'd like to hold onto it for the next swatch review. That was the last I heard, and the swatch review came and went with no word. So yesterday I sent an e-mail off to the editor asking what was up. Well, they couldn't use it for the November '06 issue, either, but she was going to use it in the January '07 issue! Yay!

It's kind of crazy how I spent all of last fall with nothing happening with my designing at all, and now it's all happening at once! And the rejections really sting, but I just counted up and I have a pretty good acceptance rate. Out of 38 total submissions, I have 16 rejections and 11 acceptances. That's an acceptance rate of 29%! My PKDG mentor told me to expect a rate of around 10%. So I have nothing to complain about. However, I tend to be one of those glass-half-empty kind of people and will only consider myself a success if I never have anything rejected, ever. Ha! When I tell my friend who's a poet about those stats, she's quite impressed. She says that in her field, the acceptance rate is more like 3%. Boy, that would have grave consequences for my ego...

Anyway, thanks for all your support through all this process. And feel free to slap me upside the head when I get down, because I'm really doing quite well. Blog friends are the absolute best.

Speaking of which...Bill and I are hatching plans to go down to La-La-Land in April so he can run in the Jimmy Stuart Relay Marathon with his old co-workers and we can take the kiddos to Disneyland. I've already been scheming with Jillian (who I can not WAIT to meet in person) about a little SEX/KIP action. (Mom, don't worry - it stands for Stash Enhancement Xpedition.) Any other LA-ites who read my blog and would want to join us? Jen, how 'bout you???

Also, check out Jillian's post from yesterday about the knitblog community. I want to let everyone who ever reads this blog know that if I come off as exclusionary or cliqueish in any way, please don't take it that way. If you leave comments and I don't get back to you, it's only because I don't have time and Blogger makes it so $#@($ difficult to get to your blog from a comment (most of the time the e-mailed comments I get don't include the e-mail address OR the post that was commented on, so I have to dig through the posted comments to find your comment, then go to your Blogger profile, and then, MAYBE, I can get to your blog). I understand that it's a little annoying to leave a comment and have it seemingly go into a black hole, because I've felt that way when leaving comments on some of the other big blogs (i.e. Yarn Harlot, Grumperina, etc.). However, now that I'm running the knit-along and have a bunch of traffic from Mag Knits, I understand! It's hard to get to everyone without making blogging your full-time (and then some) job!

I'll save the socks for tomorrow since we only have a couple and I have to get the boy up and take him to music class. And for those of you who were sad about the fig tree because you love figs, don't be! The figs that came off that horrible tree were nasty. Even my in-laws, who are crazy for fresh figs, didn't like them. Talk about adding insult to injury...

It is difficult to get back to comments - sometimes it is virtually impossible. I know I don't mind when others cannot get back to me, and I think people need to keep in mind that there are very few people that can be full-time bloggers! We are women with jobs - whether they are in an office OR a home, and while the blogging is important in our lives, many other things come first!

Congratulations on Creative Knitting!! That's so awesome! I was thinking about that cardigan recently and was wondering if you'd heard anything back from them. And 29% is fantastic! I hear you about the glass-half-empty perspective, but you're doing 3 times better than average and that's pretty darned impressive, missy. :-) And that's so awesome that you'll be meeting up with Jillian and Jen!! It really makes the whole knit blog thing "real," you know? Congrats, again and take care! :-)

That's great that you've had so many patterns accepted lately! You're doing great and I can't wait to see more of your designs.

Hope the kiddos are behaving for you. I have to say the past few weeks with my kids have been so much easier, it's like James is become a little human being who is kind and helpful instead of a monster all of the time. And Claire is finally becoming more independent and not needing my attention all the time. We will get our lives back, I can see it!

Fantastic news on the acceptances! I can't wait to see them. I know the rejections are difficult, but hang in there. Something that wasn't accepted at one publisher may very well be accepted at another. :-)

About Me

Welcome to the wild & wooly world of knitwear designer Chrissy Gardiner. I'm a mom of two who spends as much time as possible knitting and designing knitting patterns. I have been published in various books and magazines as well as printing my own pattern line, Gardiner Yarn Works. I published my first book, Toe-Up!, in the summer of 2009. It's about socks, of course!